Devotees of American football know that there are several differences between the college and professional versions. Pick a rule difference and tell which you prefer. I’ll start in the next post. My cat submitted this post prematurely and I only have a few minutes to complete the edit.
Yeah? And? 
College - 1 foot in bounds to complete a catch vs 2 in the pros. I prefer the pro rule. Completing a catch near the sidelines should be difficult and having to get 2 feet down really puts the receivers athleticism on display.
Definitely prefer the pro “If not down by contact you can get back up” thing.
Illegal man downfield: I’m split on this one.
I prefer the college rule on punts (no restrictions). I prefer the college rule on screen passes (lineman can go downfield as long as the pass does not cross the neutral zone). I prefer the pro rule on downfield passes (college rule allows linemen to fire out and engage linebackers, complicating pass coverage).
Not really a rule, but televised college games take far too long compared to NFL. Yesterdays Ohio St/Indiana game took nearly 4 hours, without overtime. Far too many TV timeouts.
Kicking: I prefer college kicking because the hashmarks are wider, making the angles slightly more extreme with the difficulty increasing the closer they get. The pros ought to be able to do the same, kicking shouldn’t be so automatic.
And yes, I get the irony of me posting this given Thursday’s debacle.
I was just noticing this today during some NFL game I happened to be watching. A quick 30second promo after a punt and the game was back on. In College that’s a full 2-4 minute commercial break. Ridiculous when there are a bunch of punts and changes of possession!
I prefer the NFL penalty for pass interference: Spot of the foul and first down.
I just don’t like that the penalty maxes out at 15 yards in college.
I’m pretty ambivalent about this one, to be honest. Back when the force-out rule still existed, I felt that they should eliminate the force-out rule in return for going to the 1 foot only rule, but with the force-out rule gone I don’t really care.
Part of the reason college games are so long is the halftime break takes FOREVER.
No one’s said the obvious, which is: college overtime is obviously superior to the NFL’s. Any sort of sudden death rule that doesn’t ensure equal possessions is unfair (the modified rule in the last few years helps, but still isn’t fair). The other complaints I’ve heard are: 1) it eliminates special teams (who cares, kickers are lame) and 2) it’ll screw up the record books (again, who cares, if it’s such a big deal then just add sections for “OT”) neither of which especially move me. Give me college’s do-or-die, equal chances setup any time.
Pro: clock keeps running after a first down unless it would have stopped anyway
College: clock stops after every first down
I prefer the pro version - it slows the college game down
Totally disagree - I love sudden death, and I think it’s a shame that the NFL did away with that rule. Each team already had 60 minutes of alternating possessions to win the game, so I’m not concerned with giving both teams “equal chances.” My biggest issue with the college overtime rules is that they turn the game into something that’s kind of like football, but isn’t.
As a fan of strong defensive football, it seems like I’m part of a vanishing breed these days. I loved that sudden death emphasizes stopping the other team just as much as it does scoring.
Two minute warning. Doesn’t exist in College Games. I don’t have strong feelings, but I don’t see a justification for it. Let’s dump it.
College overtime is too unfair. The team playing offense second gets too much of an advantage.
Every option for overtime has problems in some way or another. I wouldn’t mind if they just played a full fifth quarter (or even just allowed ties with no OT) but I don’t think there’s much chance of that.
I like the college PAT attempt from the 3 yard line instead of the 15 yard line.
I like the NFL touchback where the ball comes out to the 20 instead of the 25.
As for 1 foot vs. 2 feet in rule for a catch, I actually like the college rule of 1 foot in. The NFL rule is somewhat inconsistent because you need 2 feet, but only 1 elbow or knee or anything else that would constitute the player being “down.”
The NFL rule about fumbling out of bounds in the end zone is pretty bizarre (touchback, the other team gets the ball on the 20). I’m not sure why it has to be treated differently than any other fumble that goes out of bounds. Does college have the same rule?
The exact opposite of this.
Yes.
Totally agree. Completely obviously 100% superior.
I also like the 1 foot in bounds for a pass completion rule.
I’d like the refs to have both options available, although that would come with its own set of issues. There are a lot of long pass plays with marginal interference calls, where it seems like the NFL penalty outweighs the severity of the infraction.